Transition to in-office work starts next week for federal public servants in B.C.

Starting next Monday, federal public service employees will start to transition away from remote work, with a requirement to spend two to three days in the office by April.

But the move, announced last month, has sparked discontent from unionized workers who say it’s being rushed, without consultation.

“It’s a very abrupt mandate being pushed forward,” said Jamey Mills, regional executive vice-president for B.C., Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The federal plan will require workers to spend 40 to 60 per cent of their time in the office, to support “collaboration, team spirit, innovation and a culture of belonging,” Treasury Board President Mona Fortier explained in December.

According to Mills, about there are about 10,000 federal public service workers in the Lower Mainland and 4,000 more in the Greater Victoria area.

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Many of those employees have made big changes to their lifestyles, and have now been left scrambling to accommodate a return to the office, he said.

“It was a unilateral decision without any consultation with unions or bargaining agents,” Mills said. “And it’s going to put a significant change to our members. A lot of folks have modified their childcare or elder care, how they get to work — a lot of people have given up a second car or their primary car.”

Unionized federal public service workers are currently locked in contract negotiations, and remote work is one of their bargaining demands, Mills said. The union has filed a statutory freeze complaint against the employer with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board over the back-to-work mandate, he said.

“Unilaterally changing the conditions of work is quite frankly, against the law,” he said.

A survey conducted by the union before the federal government announced its back-to-work plan found that 60 per cent of members have fully shifted to remote work, with nearly 30 per cent working in a hybrid model, Mills said.

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That same survey found 86 per cent were opposed to a mandatory hybrid work policy, with just 11 per cent in support.

Sandra Robinson, a professor with UBC’s Sauder School of Business who focuses on human resources and organizational behaviour, said calling workers back to the office can be a disruptive change.

While there are pros and cons to in-person work, she said employers are likely to get more buy-in if they can communicate why they want their workers back in the office.

“It’s not a minor issue to go from remote to in-person, so you really need to give them a good reason why,” she said.

“If they can understand the logic behind it, even if they don’t want to work in the office, they are much more likely to be accepting of it.”

While there is pushback brewing from some federal workers, the prospect of having them back in the office is good news in some other sectors.

Downtown Victoria Business Association CEO Jeff Bray said the loss of office workers in the downtown core has hurt sales for many of his members.

“This is really very welcome news,” he said. “As they come back – that will further strengthen the sort of the recovery for our business, and again increase that foot traffic and help those local businesses survive.”

Mills said his members are not opposed to some kind of return to the office, but the plan needs to be developed in consultation with both the union and health and safety committees.